


Flight

by txteclipse



Series: Flight [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Death, Emotional Roller Coaster, Gen, Reverse Chronology, Sad, Suicide Attempt, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-28
Updated: 2010-10-28
Packaged: 2018-03-22 08:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3721621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/txteclipse/pseuds/txteclipse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Telling a sad story backwards doesn't make it have a happy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flight

**Author's Note:**

> An entry for a contest. The prompt was "One Year." There's some trigger warnings in the tags, so you may want to look at those first if you're sensitive to certain elements.

"Telling a sad story backwards doesn't make it have a happy ending." -Kelsey Rakes

***

William stared at the digital clock on the bedstand, the numbers blurred by tears. He blinked, hard, and read "5:22." Saturday morning, January 18th, 9954. And everything hurt. He remembered moonlight on water, and a bitter taste, and a sweat-moistened scrap of paper...and the sensation of flying...the sensation of breaking...

***

Abigail opened her eyes to the sound of twin engines coming to life, and found that she was looking out the wide canopy of a plane. "What..." she barely managed to say.

"We're going to go flying," William said by her side, his hand stroking her head.

The latias turned to him, her sunken eyes searching his face. Then she smiled. The expression lit up her entire being, erasing her emaciated demeanor for just a moment. William smiled back as the private jet taxied down the runway, clutching their ticket stubs in his free hand, fighting back the anxious bile that rose in his throat. They both looked out the canopy as they took to the sky for the last time.

The full moon gleamed across the water like liquid silver, and as they rose high into the sky, Abigail turned back to look at William with eyes that shone like gold. "Thank you," she whispered, almost inaudibly, and then the lights in her eyes went out.

And the young man wept.

***

"I miss flying," Abby whispered hoarsely, as William stroked her neck with his fingertips.

"I do too," the young man agreed. "But hey, we'll go all over the place once you get better," he added.

"Will?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Tears sprang into the young man's eyes. "I love you too."

The latias nodded, and drifted off into a fitful sleep. William watched her labored breathing, and then climbed into the hospital bed next to her, wrapping his arms gently around her.

***

The medicine wasn't working. Abigail became a little weaker each day, her body a little thinner, her face a little more drawn. "Hey, Will," she said one afternoon as the sunset drifted through the windows. "If things start getting bad, and it doesn't seem like I'm going to make it–"

"Don't talk like that!" William whispered vehemently, clenching her paw in his hand.

"Let's not kid ourselves," the latias spoke, looking into his eyes. "We'll have to confront this eventually, and it's better if we do it now."

William started crying. "It hurts too much," he said pitifully, laying his face on the mattress. "I can't think about that."

"It's only just in case–" She suddenly coughed violently, speckling her pillow with crimson flecks.

"Oh Arceus...nurse! Nurse!" William shouted, and was suddenly pulled away by firm hands as the medical team crowded him out.

***

The doctor looked grave. "Unfortunately, she has developed an infection in her lung.

William stared. "What?" he said weakly.

The doctor nodded solemnly. "It's treatable, but...it is a life-threatening condition."

"So...what are you saying?" William felt panic rising in his body. He wanted to run to Abby's side. He wanted her to be okay. He wanted to throw up.

"I'm just letting you know the facts," the doctor replied. "You can go ahead in and see her now."

Abigail didn't look much different from the day before. William pulled a chair up next to her bed, and took one of her paws in his hands. She stirred at his touch, and found that he was crying.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her face furrowing in puzzlement.

"I'm scared," William replied simply, rubbing his eyes against his sleeves.

"I know, I am too," she said gently, and placed her paw against his forehead. "William?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're my friend."

"Yeah. Me too."

***

"Good morning, sleepyhead." William put on a smile as Abigail opened her eyes. The latias looked like a mummy underneath all the bandages.

"Arceus I hurt," she said with a wince. "Did a building fall on me or something?"

"No, you got hit by a car is all," the young man replied. "Anyway, the guys at work made a card for you, and I got you some stuff too. You scared us a little there, Abby."

"Glad to hear you care," the latias said teasingly as William held open the get-well card for her to read.

"Well, you cared first," the young man said without thinking. He and Abby looked at each other for a moment.

"You're sweet," she replied, and then went back to looking at the card, although she wasn't really paying attention to it.

***

The accident happened at the end of December. William ran halfway from the post office to the hospital before someone offered him a ride, and he arrived at Abigail's room with his lungs burning and his stomach contents threatening mutiny.

"How is she?" he asked the nurse, who shook her head.

"She doesn't look good," the woman replied with a sigh, and wiped her forehead.

"Tell me." It wasn't a suggestion.

"Blunt force trauma to the majority of her body. Lots of pain when she's awake. She has a few broken bones, which wouldn't be too bad, but unfortunately one of her lungs was punctured."

"Oh Arceus. And the driver?"

"The next room over. They think he fell asleep at the wheel."

William was by now at Abby's bedside, and he stroked the feathers on her head. She was shaking in her sleep. He shook, too.

***

On Halloween, William and Abigail went to a local fair. William bought caramel apples for both of them with much ceremony, using his own money, and then they walked together among the stands, taking in the sights and the smells and the pleasure of a jovial crowd.

They ended the outing by riding the ferris wheel, which got stuck when they were at the top. William started to complain, but then Abby kissed him on the cheek, her lips still sticky with caramel. He groaned in mock-anger, and then they both burst out laughing as he scrubbed away at his cheek with his shirt.

That night, they handed out candy until the trick-or-treaters no longer haunted the streets, and then read together by a blazing fireplace before nodding off to sleep.

***

"You need a job."

William sighed, but he knew Abby was right. Over the next week, they both beat the pavement, looking for something he was qualified for that also wasn't too terrible. "This looks promising," he said one day, waving a slip of paper as he walked in the door to the apartment. "A mail-carrier service. The pay isn't fantastic, but the hours are great, and if you help me we both get money." He grinned. "With your flying speed, we'd probably be the fastest carriers in the world."

"I'm game," the latias said cheerily after taking the paper and giving it a once-over.

They nailed their interview, which wasn't exactly difficult, and began work the next week. William loved the job. There was a sort of mysticality about carrying the thoughts and ideas and emotions of other people to their friends and loved ones. On top of that, he had grown rather fond of flying, and being on the job meant he and Abby got to do so a lot. In the air, with the world rushing beneath, he was happier and more at peace than he had been in a long, long time.

***

It was the end of summer, and extremely hot outside. They were at the beach, building sand castles after growing sick of swimming. Abigail's beat the crap out of William's, so he simply watched her progress.

"Umm...hey, Abby?" he said after a few minutes. "You know the night I...I mean, when we first met?"

"Yeah," the latias replied, looking up from her work. "It's kinda hard to forget, what with you breaking my wing and all." She grinned.

"Sorry about that," William responded quietly. "I just...well...I wanted to say...thank you."

Their eyes met, and Abigail's were sparkling. It might have been the sunset.

***

The day came for Abigail's casts to come off. As they left the hospital, the latias suddenly clapped William on the back. "We're flying home," she said with an excited intensity to her voice.

"Oh," the young man replied, feeling himself go pale. It wasn't that he was afraid of heights, it was just...

"You won't fall," Abigail assured him knowingly. "Hop on!"

The next thing William knew, he was sitting on the latias' back with his arms clamped around her neck and his face buried in her feathers. They were flying at least a mile above ground at a speed he didn't care to guess at. "Let's land, please land, stop, please, I want to land," he babbled endlessly.

"Come on, take a look!" Abigail countered, suddenly taking a banking curve.

William peeked, but only because he almost lost his grip. It was sort of amazing up here, he decided, in a horrifying kind of way.

"Awesome, right?" the latias asked, finally beginning to descend.

"Yeah, right. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to throw up."

***

It was a suspenseful scene. The Champion's last battler was a Nidoking, and it wasn't going down without a fight. Abigail stole a handful of popcorn from the bag in William's lap without taking her eyes off of the screen.

"Ice Beam...Ice Beam!" she yelled at the challenger's froslass, who used Blizzard instead and missed. "Ugh, why is she messing around? Just finish him off already!"

The froslass did eventually use Ice Beam, and after the match Abigail ended up falling asleep with her head resting on William's shoulder. He sat there in awkward silence for nearly an hour, uncomfortable but not wanting to move in case he woke her up.

He used the time to think. About her, about what she had done on the night they met, about why someone would do something like that. His heart hurt, and he couldn't decide if it was a bad sort of pain or a good one. Perhaps a little of both. It was nothing like before, that much he knew for sure.

Eventually, growing too tired to think, he carefully worked his arm around her back to try and lift her off. However, her eyes slid open slightly and she murmured in her sleep. William hardly dared to breath, but she did not wake up completely, and he sighed in relief.

The young man was now in the even more awkward position of having his arm around the latias' shoulder. The less he moved, however, the more his muscles complained, so he finally accepted his fate and leaned his head against Abigail's. Her feathers were amazingly soft, and he fell asleep quickly, but not before hugging her, very gently, just before drifting off.

***

"Man, we've been stuck inside forever," Abigail complained, stretching and yawning. "Hey, let's go shopping today! We need to get groceries, at least."

William started. "Umm...I'm kinda...low on money..." he trailed off.

"Oh, that's fine. We'll just use mine."

"You've got cash?" William sounded incredulous.

"Yeah, I've got a bank account and everything," the latias answered with a grin. "Come on."

Once outside, William began to unlock his rusted bicycle.

"Forget that," Abigail suddenly said from behind him. "I've got a better way to travel. Climb on."

The key broke in the lock. "What?" the young man responded, startled.

Abigail pointed at her back with a claw. "Flying's a lot faster, and a lot more fun." She winked roguishly.

"I...don't...won't that hurt your wing?" William stammered.

Abigail considered this. "I doubt it."

"Well...let's not risk it."

"Come on, it'll be exciting!" the latias pressed, but William shook his head. "Oh, fine then. We'll walk."

***

"Nice place," Abigail decided, looking around the small apartment. Her paw and one wing were in a cast.

"Thanks." William put the takeout on the coffee table and started arranging the styrofoam boxes by the names penned onto the tops. "Fried rice...mine...here's your orange combusken...what are you doing?"

The latias was holding an armful of pill bottles. "Where's your bathroom?" she asked innocently.

"Down...down the hallway on the right?"

"Cool, thanks."

She was gone for ten minutes. The toilet flushed seven times. William spooned his food everywhere but his mouth.

"Sorry," Abigail said as she returned, no longer carrying the pill bottles. "Great, I'm starving," she added, pulling back the lid of one of her boxes. William watched her as she speared food with one of her claws and tossed it expertly into her mouth. "...I'll clean it up if I miss," she said, misunderstanding his attention.

"Oh. Okay, that's fine." The young man looked away conscientiously.

"This stuff is pretty good, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Later that night, William piled some blankets and pillows on the living room couch for Abigail to sleep on. "Goodnight," he said.

"See you in the morning," Abigail replied, and, flying over, gave him a quick hug. He tensed.

"Right. See you."

***

"It's okay, it doesn't hurt that bad. They gave me something." The latias smiled, but her eyes told a different story. "How about you?"

"I'm okay," the young man mumbled. "Umm...about last night...I wanted to ask you why you did that, I guess." The latias searched his face, her eyes flickering exceptionally gold. William was reminded of candle flame.

"You looked sad," she replied with a wry grin. "I figured that hitting the water so hard would make you feel more sad, so I caught you."

"I wasn't planning on feeling at all after–"

"My name's Abigail, by the way. What's yours?"

***

"Hey there," the nurse said when she entered the room later that day, cradling a notepad in her arms. "How do you feel?" She checked the softly beeping instruments around him, and then proceeded to sit down.

"Awful," William replied truthfully, looking down at his bruised and battered body. The events of the previous night came back slowly as his mind woke up. "I suppose I'm not dead then."

"No, you're not." The nurse seemed to be appraising him. "She caught you," the woman finally added, pointing to a bed on the other side of the room. A latias was sleeping there, with one of her wings and an arm wrapped in white bandages. The pokemon's breathing was shallow.

"Umm."

"Broke three bones in the process," the nurse continued on, still looking at William.

"Did she say...why?"

"You can ask her yourself," the nurse replied, going back to her clipboard. "Let her sleep for now, though, she had a rough night."

***

William stared at the digital clock on the bedstand, the numbers blurred by tears. He blinked, hard, and read "5:22." Saturday morning, January 18th, 9953. And everything hurt. He remembered moonlight on water, and a bitter taste, and a sweat-moistened scrap of paper...and the sensation of flying...the sensation of breaking...


End file.
